Airway & Breathing
A patient with acute respiratory failure presents with cyanosis and accessory muscle use—this is the immediate nursing action.
What is increase oxygen flow and elevate the head of bed?
First assessment when a ventilated patient becomes restless and tachycardic.
What is check oxygen saturation?
Finding that supports pneumothorax after sudden SOB during central line insertion.
What is diminished or absent breath sounds on the affected side?
Rule of Nines %TBSA for bilateral anterior/posterior arms.
What is 18%
Your patient has a circumferential arm burn and and suddenly has decreased radial pulse and numbness in the extremity. What should the RN prepare for?
What is prepare for escharotomy?
Intervention to prioritize for a patient with hypercapnia and confusion.
What is initiate non-invasive ventilation and reassess?
In one sentence, describe PEEP to me.
PEEP: Positive end-expiratory pressure) is the pressure left in the lungs at the end of exhalation on a ventilator, which helps keep alveoli open and improve oxygenation.
Lab value indicating therapeutic heparin dosing after a pulmonary embolism.
What is an aPTT 1.5 × control?
Describe a 2nd degree burn
Partial thickness: blisters, severe pain, redness
What is the best way to reduce scarring in the rehabilitive phase of burns?
What should be the nurses priority for a COPD patient with a recent URI on high-flow nasal cannula who has bad PaO2?
What is prepare for intubation?
Most appropriate action to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia.
What is provide regular oral care with chlorhexidine?
Describe a pneumonia patient to me.
Describe home teaching for burn wound care.
Applying topical antimicrobial agents and dressings. Keeping infection risk down and clean area.
Why would a burn patient have sudden drop in urine output post burn day 3?
POssible infection- septic shock
The most distinctive sign of flail chest.
What is paradoxical chest movement?
Causes of a high-pressure alarm on a ventilator.
What are excessive secretions, biting the ET tube, and equipment failure?
When oxygenation remains critically low despite high levels of PEEP, this patient positioning strategy is initiated by the nurse to improve ventilation–perfusion matching and enhance oxygenation.
What is prone positioning?
You are the triage nurse, and a frantic mother calls stating their child has just spilled a pot of boiling water on their chest.
What do you instruct them to do?
What should the nurse do if the patient has a bad reaction to topical silver sulfadiazine?
First emergency action for tension pneumothorax.
What is large-bore needle decompression?
Main nursing nursing action for a patient on a ventilator via ET tube.
What is assess breath sounds frequently?
A patient with a blunt chest injury develops sudden dyspnea, tracheal deviation, absent breath sounds on one side, and hypotension. What is most likely happening?
tension pneumothorax... what do we need to do?
Needle decompression
This degree of burns is classified as what?
red, painful, no blisters- typically after being out in the sun for too long.
Superficial, or type 1
Tell me the signs of compartment syndrome of a burn patient that would require a rapid response?